Many colleges have ditched SAT requirements — is it time to bring them back?

What’s happening

Yale University announced late last month that it will once again require applicants to submit scores for standardized tests like the SAT as part of its admissions process.

In 2020, Yale was one of hundreds of universities across the country that switched to a “test optional” system, where scores can be considered in an application but are not mandatory. Those decisions were largely made in response to barriers created by the COVID-19 pandemic but were also informed by a longstanding belief among some experts that standardized tests perpetuate racial and economic inequality.

Yale is one of only a few elite colleges, along with Dartmouth University and MIT, to have reinstated its testing requirement. In all three cases, school administrators said their research found that the test-optional policy made their student bodies less diverse — not more.

More than 80% of four-year colleges in the U.S. will not require students to submit SAT or ACT scores this fall. Most of those schools are test-optional. A small number, though, have gone “test-blind” or “test-free,” meaning test scores are not factored into admissions decisions at all. That group includes all 33 schools in the Cal State and University of California systems.

The background

Only a small percentage of American college students go to “highly selective” universities where changes to admissions criteria make any significant difference on who’s able to attend, but a small number of prestigious universities carry so much weight in the world of U.S. higher education that any adjustments they make are bound to create controversy. The return of SAT requirements is no exception.

Why there’s debate

Advocates for mandated standardized tests say that test-optional policies, however well intended, actually make it harder for schools to identify promising students from underrepresented backgrounds. According to their research, poorer applicants are less likely to submit scores and therefore miss a chance to differentiate themselves from their more privileged peers. Supporters of SAT requirements also argue that, while racial and income gaps in test scores are real, the other metrics that schools use to make their admissions decisions — like essays, letters of recommendation and even grades — can be even more tilted in favor of well-off applicants.

Critics of this approach say all of these potential benefits still exist in a test-optional system for students who believe their SAT scores will help them, but they argue that no one should be forced to take the test when it might mar their otherwise excellent applications. There’s also a smaller group of academics who argue that standardized tests are so biased that the only way to create a truly fair admissions system is to get rid of the SAT and ACT altogether.

Perspectives

Underprivileged students need as many opportunities to stand out as they can get

“Colleges made the SAT and ACT optional in an effort to appear more equitable, but they likely did the opposite. Students who face socioeconomic disadvantages need more opportunities to demonstrate academic ability.” — Editorial, Wall Street Journal

Test-optional admissions policies maintain all of the benefits of the SAT with none of the drawbacks

“All the benefits of testing continue to exist in a test-optional environment, though critics of the policy desperately want to pretend they do not. A test-optional policy simply reduces the importance of testing and puts it on equal footing with other optional elements in applications.” — Akil Bello, senior director of advocacy and advancement at FairTest, Inside Higher Ed

Standardized tests should have no role in college admissions at all

“In order to promote true equity, schools should completely eliminate SAT/ACT scores from the college application process. … If all universities were to follow suit, it would level the playing field by negating the expenses of tests, tutors and studying time.” — Maggie Bigelow, Hechinger Report

Higher education will suffer if colleges can’t find promising students the other metrics miss

“Without test scores, admissions officers sometimes have a hard time distinguishing between applicants who are likely to do well at elite colleges and those who are likely to struggle. … A solid score for a student from a less privileged background is often a sign of enormous potential.” — David Leonhardt, New York Times

Without tests, schools are left with even less equitable criteria

“Another reason to take test scores into account: Other factors considered in any holistic admissions process, such as essay quality, extracurricular activities and teacher recommendations, tilt even more in favor of white and well-off students, many of whom have college admissions officers at their high schools to teach them how to polish their applications.” — Editorial, Washington Post

The anti-SAT movement has always been a far-left dream based on emotion, not facts

“Of course, we should constantly be looking to modernize our institutions, and the SAT and ACT should certainly not be immune to scrutiny. But overthrowing a major component of the admissions process in the absence of evidence — often at the behest of activists — is no solution.” — Rikki Schlott, New York Post

To fix higher ed, we need to move past these endless fights about a few high-profile schools

“Enough. Some schools will mandate standardized testing, others will not, and some might change their minds. … It is not that testing battles and elite admissions have no importance. Rather it is the fact that higher education has a much bigger set of challenges.” — Stephen Handel, Los Angeles Times